RALEIGH — The N.C.
Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has awarded a pair of contracts worth $2.8 million to replace two Wake County bridges that are each at least
59 years old.

A $2 million contract was awarded S.T. Wooten Corp. of Wilson to build
a new bridge over Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks on Piney Grove Wilbon Road
west of Fuquay-Varina and off N.C. 42.

The bridge was built in 1953 and is considered functionally obsolete,
which means it was built to standards that are not used today in terms
of lane width or vertical clearances that would better serve current traffic
demands.

Work on the bridge can begin as
early as Feb. 27, and is scheduled to be finished within 225 days of the start
date.

The other bridge contract awarded was worth
$802,370 and went to Dane Construction Inc. of Mooresville to replace the
Watkins Road bridge over Powell Creek in northeast Raleigh. The current bridge
was built in 1951 and in addition to being functionally obsolete, it is also
considered structurally deficient, which means there are elements of the bridge that
have had to be monitored, and eventually it needed to be replaced.

The replacement project can
start anytime between Feb. 27 and May 1, and is expected to be completed within
150 days of starting.

These were two of 39 contracts totaling $203.2 million awarded by Transportation
Secretary Gene Conti for highway and bridge projects across North Carolina.
NCDOT awarded the contracts to the lowest bidders, as required by state law.
The bids received on the projects awarded came in about 2.9 percent, or about
$6.2 million, below NCDOT estimates.

Since Gov. Bev Perdue took office in January of 2009, NCDOT has
awarded 511 highway contracts totaling $3.8 billion to ensure that all North
Carolinians have access to jobs and educational opportunities.

For more information about funding for infrastructure improvements in
North Carolina, as well as other NCDOT projects and activities, visit www.ncdot.gov.